Ari Striking Willow Training
Participants Nakara Haruno, Ari Junrei Ari's Striking Willow Training 11-27-14 Kaiiaki: -Nakara woke up with a start in the early morning, her right hand clutching at her lower ribs. A grunt of pain left her pouty pink lips. "I swear these broken ribs are going to kill me!" She grumbled sleepily. She didn't want to wake up yet. But her ribs wanted to, as they were crying out for their pain medicene. It was still this painful for her a few days after she had gotten back to her home village safe and sound. Her vocal chords had healed quite nicely. But the ribs would take a bit longer than that. About 6 weeks. Until then, she had to take it easy. Nakara groaned once again, sitting upright in her bed. Thinking about how long it was going to take for her to get back to 100% sure was disheartening. Nakara reached her hands to uncap the medicene bottle, taking a pill out and setting it in her mouth. Her right hand then grabbed the cup of water on her nightstand, bringing it to her lips and using the liquid to swallow down the painpill. "Oh dear...what to do today..." But then she remembered it was her day for her one on one training with her student Ari Junrei. Since it had been prearranged with them all on the day that they went to the Dango Shop together, Nakara knew that Ari would be there at the Training Grounds with her. Possibly even waiting on her already. Nakara smiled, the thought of training such a bright young boy made her happy. Although, she was a little unsure of how she might train him. In the way that he was from an unfamiliar clan, unfamiliar to her at least. She didn't know too much about it, other than they specialized in a particiular form of weaponry, and that one of the elders of the village was Ujiyasu Junrei. "Oh well! Better do the best I can do!" She pulled open the drawer from her bedside table, grabbing out a small scroll and pen. ~Ujiyasu. Would you mind meeting me at the Training Grounds at 1 pm today? I apologize for asking at the last minute. But your skill and technique in the form of you clan jutsu is unpassable! I will be training Ari Junrei, thanks in advance!~ She finished writing the note, and then called for her father to get their messenger pigeon to take the message straight to Ujiyasu. While she was doing that, she wrote a short reminder note to Ari. ~Just a reminder! Meeting at the Training Grounds at 1 pm.~ She then folded this scroll, and handed it to her waiting father who was now standing at her bedside. "Thanks Otou-san." She smiled. She looked up at him, seeing the worry still in his eyes. He sure had gotten worried when he saw his daughter lying in the hospital bed when she first came back from her mission. And he had been sorta clinging to her since then. She couldn't blame him at all. :In that state, who wouldn't be concerned for their child?: "I love you daddy." She grinned, trying to ease his fears and worries away. "She then gently pushed her covers off of her body, trying to avoid hurting her ribs any more than they already were hurt. She watched as her dad walked out of her room, going to send off the messenger pigeon for her.- Andikins: {AJ & UJ} Ari Junrei was resting in his bed one fine day, getting some rest after having forgotten which day he would be training with his sensei. Thankfully though, he was awoken by his young grandfather, Ujiyasu Junrei, a tall man with several torso scars and on going across his cheeks and over his nose, another crossing that scar down the side of his face. Ujiyasu was dressed in his normal civilian clothes, carying his walking cane (though he did not need it for walking and it housed his own personal firearm inside) in one hand and his smoking pipe in another as he banged on Ari's door, 'You idiot, wake up and sieze the day like you had planned to do!' Ari scrambled out of his bed and fell out of it again, quickly getting to his wardrobe to throw on his normal oufit that he usually wore for training and missions: his tabi, pants with brown patches, blue t-shirt with black sewn in sleeves, gloves with metal on the tops, brown fleece overcoat with sleeves removed and his off-blue knit cap. He grabbed his recently modified headband, having gutted it and sautered his goggles to the headband so that the two were one and he could wear only one of them without cluttering things up. Ari ran out of his bedroom and past his grandfather, slingshot in his hands while grabbing his kunai and explosive tags in their pouches, tying them to his pants while getting ready to run outside and into the open. His grandfather stopped Ari by grabbing the young Junrei by the shoulder, 'Don't go rushing into things either, unless you want to be remembered as an idiot.' Ari shrugged off his grandfather's hand from his shoulder and went off at an even pace, though his grandfather used the body flicker technique to get to the training grounds in nearly an instant (leaving Ari's cannister of explosive powders, a small pouch of prepared bombs and a booklet of easy to tear out paper to make their bombs), leaving Ari there to rush after him and arrive minutes later, finding his grandfather there waiting for him with one knee up and the other leg sprawled out while smoking on that pipe. 'I never said you couldn't use your skills to get there more efficiently.' Ari just gave his grandfather a deapan look andgrumbled under his breath. {AJ & UJ} Kaiiaki:-By the time the birds had been sent off, Nakara was dressed in her usual jonin outfit. Except she had modified it a little bit to adhere to the cold of the oncoming winter. In addition, she was wearing a long, white cloak, with two red stripes at the bottom. This cloak was recently bought for Nakara from her father. It was quite warm already. Making her cheeks flush even more than usual from the amount of heat. Also new to her, were some red earmuffs covering her ears. Upon it, a white snowflake symbol. She was happy she had these today because it was supposed to snow. She made extra sure to pack her medic kit. Because of the rumors of the rumors of the Junrei Clan. They seemed to like blowing themselves up it seemed. This made Nakara laugh. Thinking about Ari covered in black soot, a huge smile on his face all the same. Nakara made her way out of the house, grabbing a few dango sticks off the plate her father had prepared for her. Her father gave her a smirk as she walked by. "Make sure you don't get those stuck in your snake bites. You're almost a glutton for pain." He laughed, joking along with her. "Haha! Oh dad, geesh. I'll be careful!" A doubtful smile came over his pale face. His arms crossing over his chest. "I've heard that one before.." He muttered. "Nakara, here. I think it's time you've learned this. Don't read it here, take it with you." Nakara only rolled her eyes in response, grabbing the scroll her father threw to her and quickly making her way towards the Training Grounds. Not wanting to get there late and look bad in front of her student. Her speed was a little limited, thanks to her toning down to adhere to her injury. But it looked like she had gotten there just in time. There was already some old guy there. Was that who she thought it was? "Ujiyasu? Is that who you are?" She guessed. "I sure appreciate you coming out here today in the cold in order to teach Ari. I hope that after this one, I'll be able to teach him in the way that I need to be!" She spoke enthuasiastically. Then paused, looking around for Ari. But then she realized that he had been not very far from her. "Oh! Ari!" Her cheeks flushed embarrasedly. "I didn't see you there haha!'' Her right hand rubbed over the back of her head, trying to brush it off as if it was nothing. :Here she was, a jonin about to become a sage. And she didn't notice an orange haired boy not even 20 feet away? Wow, I really am losing it!: "Um, so Ari. Did you bring all of your materials?" She asked while she found a spot to sit by Ujiyasu. She then whispered into the old man's ear saying, "So dewwd. Can ya fill me in on this jutsu and all your clan jutsu? I mainly specialize in the medical arts so I could really use your wisdom in this area if you wouldn't mind~." She sang out cheerfully, in a charismatic way almost none could resist her sweet sounding high alto toned voice.- Andikins: {AJ & UJ} Ujiyasu, enjoying a puff from his thin pipe, looked up while letting the cherry wood scented smoke billow up from his mouth and up into the air when the jounin girl finally arrived, before Ari himself had arrived. "Of course I am, I am here aren't I?" Ujiyasu was a pretty gruff and blunt speaking man, as noted by his constant referring to comrades or colleagues as idiots when giving advice or facts. Ari finally arrived on the scene, ready to start his training, supplies with him when he saw his grandfather there with his sensei, "Oh you are here to gramps?" 'Idiot, how else can your sensei teach you our jutsus?' Ari again, deadpanned at his grandfather, sometimes the old coot was as aggrevating as his father, but nowhere near as much of a jerk. Nevertheless, Ari sallied forth toward his sensei, waving his papper and canister of his materials. 'Remember last time you shook those things around? You earned us the reputation of blowing ourselves up you whelp.' Ari blinked and quickly put his canister to his sides and hooked them up, "So what are we learning today sensei?" 'Ujiyasu got up to his feet, pipe between his teeth, speaking with clenched teeth but a calm tone, 'The jutsu I created, the Striking Willow technique.' He handed over a small scroll detailing how to perform the jutsu, the materials needed and all the other small information on it that would be needed to teach and learn it. 'Keep this safe. I'm going to sit back and watch the clouds pass by while you two have at it.' "Ummmmkay." This was all Ari had to say on the matter, he seemed to have forgotten that his jutsus were clan exclusive unless there was a non clansmen who was trusted enough by the Junrei Mercenaries to teach them how to use their sparks. {AJ & UJ} Kaiiaki:-Nakara jolted upright, standing up on her feet beside Ujiyasu. Although she regretted it when she did. "Gah..." She grunted out loudly, feeling the jolt of pain from her two bottom ribs. This was starting to annoy her. Broken bones really put a damper on every aspect of her life. She was starting to wonder if these ribs were ever going to heal. Even though it had only been a few days since she had been released from the hospital. "Let's...get this thing going!" Nakara gritted her teeth through the pain. Hoping her student wouldn't notice and get overly concerned for her. Her right hand clenched at her torso, while she walked slowly over to stand by Ari, and read the scroll over his shoulders in an attempt to read what was written on the scroll. ~A ninjutsu which emphasizes the control over the Junrei clan's handle of the Sparks Hiden style. It uses an eight-sided die shape of two pyramids stacked underneath one another, lithium and titanium to give it a red and silver hue with its single branch of a weeping willow shape that arcs in the direction of the user's desire after it is ignited. It causes damage and irritation with a low spread over short distances but a greater spread and slower speeds over longer distances until they droop to the ground.~ After reading it over a couple of times. Nakara seemed to get the jist of what was to be done in order to activate this jutsu. "Alright Ari. Grab your chakra infused paper. And you see that training dummy over there?" She then gestured to a training dummy, lodged into the ground with a wooden stake about 40 or more so feet in the southwest direction from where they were standing right now. She was glad someone had so generously put these out for the genin and academy students, or anyone in particular to use. This is why she had chosen this as a spot for them to train. "Your target is right over there. I want you to aim for that thing out there. Launch it, throw it, whatever you need to do to get it there. Then perform your handseals. And finally, detonate it when it gets to the point of impact. If you hit your target successfully the first time. Then we will make this a little bit more difficult the next time. But for now, concentrate on this." She smiled, and then sit back down to where she was before to give Ari a little bit of air. "I will count the seconds, and see how long it takes for you to reach your target and detonate. You will need to know your average time for this in the future." She then nodded, and sat back to watch him.- {AJ} Ari waited while his sensei went over the scroll for what he was going to learn. This was a little odd to him, why would their clan jutsus be read and then taught to him when he could read them himself? Unless it was all just a formality for the sensei to teach the jutsu personally. Shrugging it off, Ari drew out a piece of chakra infused paper, knowing that his grandfather prefered using lithium and titanium, had brought some lithium and titanium powders with him, no premade versions of these as he had not even read this scroll yet to know their shape. Regardless, he started by pouring some black powder, flicking a little switch on his powder canister to choose which powder he wanted to put out, switching it to lithium and then titanium in a small amount to make an object no bigger than a square inch. Ari drew out his slingshot, putting the projectile in the sling and pulled it back, shooting it toward the target, quickly performing the required handseals, focusing on it just like he does with Dancing Thorn and then called out the jutsu name alloud, "Striking Willow!" And then it burst, just as the scroll described, like it was a branch of a weeping willow tree, and with such a force that it blew the dummy lean off from its post and leaving singed holes in its body. "Hey I didn't blow myself up on the first try for once!" {AJ} Kaiiaki: -Nakara watched Ari silently as he put together the concoction of a few different powdered versions of titanium and lithium. Which were the combined materials needed to make the source of the explosion. She then observed as Ari put the chakra infused paper into his slingshot, drew it back and aimed towards the Training Dummy. She counted the seconds from initial starting point, to the point of explosion. "1 dango stick, 2 dango stick, 3 dango stick, 4 dango stick, 5 dango stick, 6 dango stick." She was cut off by the sound of an exploding dummy at the point Ari was aiming at. It looked like he had successfully blown the training dummy to bits. With little parts of it remaining. "Well done Ari!" She squeaked. "About 6 seconds!" I'm amazed that you did so well on your first try. You truely are a Junrei worthy of your clan name." She slowly got herself up, and walked over to pat the boy on top of his head a few times. The pulled out her notepad to write Ari's Speed of his jutsu's impact under the category ~Ari's Striking Willow Speed and Accuracy~ "Now to make things a little more difficult..." Her hands then moved into the positions to form the handsigns:Ram → Snake → Tiger "Clone Jutsu!" At that moment, an identical look alike of Nakara's formed to the right side of her. "Since I can't afford to get blown up myself, my clone will be your target this time. It is imporant for you to learn to use this jutsu when you have a moving target. You can't expect your opponent to just stand still and wait for you to hit them. They will almost always be moving. So you must train yourself in your accuracy of a moving target." Nakara then instructed her clone to jog over to a distance of 65 feet in the same southwest direction. As soon as Ari would finish powdering the chakra infused paper, the clone would move in a zig-zag pattern towards him. At lengths of 6 feet, and then stopping only for about 2.5 second intervals. It would continue this pattern until it had reached Ari. "Your job is also to figure out patterns of the movements of opponents. The sooner you can figure them out, the better you can assist from your long range, so you can determine which place the opponent will move to next without endangering your comrades." She then sat back, watching as Ari and her clone would do their little dual.- Andikins:{AJ} Ari was so pleased with himself, he didn't even notice when his sensei called out to him about his time that he hit the target nor congratulating him. He was just so elated that his jutsu had not blown up in his face on the first try for once. Now came the next goal as established by his sensei after his head was given a few pats. A moving target? Alright then! That was easy! Though it was only a clone, it moved just like his sensei did and he was already preparing another of the Striking Willow casings, folding and shaping it with his fingers, he put it in his slingshot, pulling the elastic back and took aim for the clone of his sensei while moving backwards as it was closing the distance rather fast. Whenever he took aim for the clone when it was standing still, it moved to another location, but in an easy enough pattern he could read. It was a standard zig-zagging formation. Ari hesitated, trying to aim more than focusing on where the target would be, when the target was close, he let loose his projectile, only for it to be too close to have ignite. Ari then jumped up into the air, performing the hand seals like last time and tried to focus the direction, "Striking Willow!" The projectile blew up, but went off in its normal direction. The young Junrei lad landed and grumbled to himself, of course he wouldn't master it on his first try, nor would he have the skills to aim it after it is fired yet, that would require chakra flow training at least. "Sorry sensei! I'll get it next time for sure!" {AJ} Kaiiaki:-Nakara could only laugh, seeing young Ari try for the clone, but end up falling on his butt instead. "Hey no worries there Ari. I'm sure you will get it done the next time. It just takes a little practice. But..." She was reluctant to say this, because she didn't want to embarrass him in front of his grandfather. Yet it needed to be said if he were to overcome such a thing. "I noticed you hesitated there for a second. I'm not sure why you did that, but..." She slowly got up from her seat, gently grabbing Ari by his shoulders. She bent her knees slightly, so she could look him in his eyes directly. "Hesitation is a terrible thing to do in battle, young one. Get out of the habit of that while you're still young. Hesitating in battle could cost you your life....because an enemy will not hesitate to kill you. They will not hold themselves back from trying to harm you. They will have no remorse in taking a life such as yours..." She paused, a sigh leaving her lips. Remembering Fudo, and the way in which he died. To ensure how serious she was about this, she spoke to Ari about what had happened that night. "Ari....if my comrade had hesitated even one second in our battle, I would not be standing here right now." Her eyes looked at him, with a sadness behind the aquamarine irises of hers.- Andikins:{AJ} Ari got up and dusted himself off, tucking away his slingshot into his back pocket. looking over at his grandfather who was more concerned with preparing another set of herbs to smoke in his pipe rather than listen to Nakara comment about Ari's hesitation, likely by choice to keep the young Junrei at ease, though Ari wasn't aware of that to be sure. "I was trying to make sure I knew how the clone was moving first sensei, how can I hit them if I am unsure where they will be next?" Ari wanted to be a quicker shot, but it was up to conjecture to where the target would be next, so there was always a chance of wasting a shot in battle, something Ari did not like to think about. Which is why he wanted to build the reputation of being the best marksman in the land and not miss a single time ever. "I will do better, I promise!" {AJ} Kaiiaki:-Nakara flushed, a tad bit embarrased about the pep talk she had just given him when it had been for basically nothing. "Y-you do have a point there Ari. I thought...well, it doesn't matter!" She laughed off the fact that she kept sounding like a complete dummy in front of her students all the time. Even though she was supposedly very smart, she wasn't good at showing it to others at times. "Well, let's end the training for today. Be here tomorrow at 1 pm sharp. You and the rest of the team will be working on a chakra flow exercise. From there, we will continue on learning your Striking Willow jutsu." She smiled and then turned to Ujiyasu. "I thank you greatly for trusting me with the secrets of your clan's jutsu, and also for being here today to share your wisdom with me. I hope you guys have a safe journey home! Don't worry about me, your sensei has some training of her own to do!" She waved them off, assuring them that she would be fine on her own. - 2nd Session 12-6-14 Kaiiaki:-After her rigourous self training sessions, she had improved herself by an exceedable amount. She was ready to come back to her students and finish the training that she had started with them. The first with being Ari's Striking Willow Training. They had only accomplished part of what they needed to the first time. What with the interruption being Ari needed chakra flow training to continue on with this jutsu of his. Nakara had already notified ahead of time, with her messenger bird as always. Asking him to meet her at the Training Grounds at an earlier time than usual. ~Meet me at the Training Grounds at 9 am. Love, Nakara~ As per usual, Nakara was already there, awaiting her students arrival. When he got there, she would make haste in training him in this jutsu and finish it up quickly. The past couple days, Nakara could feel a bit of a chill in there. And not the kind from the temperature around them. Several children had been kidnapped from the village of Amegakure. The news had been all over the village. The situation had put her at great paranoia. All those genin just suddenly gone. Nakara had a particular overprotective nature towards children. And this event had put her into the idea that she would willingly go to war. Although the thought of war put her on edge, at this point, it might be necessary. Nakara restlessly paced around in the snow covered Training Grounds. Anxious for her student's arrival.- Andikins: {AJ} Ari Junrei woke up early one morning, receiving a note from his sensei to meet her for training early in the morning, or at least earlier than they normally were subject to as a team. A nine A.M. training session seemed a little too early, but Ari was not going to complain because he was a Leaf Shinobi now, he would remain steadfast and train with his sensei. Ari got up and out of bed, putting on his usual winter attire outfit (this narrator isn't going to go into detail about it every single time because you Audience, you have already read a few chapters about Ari's life already haven't you?). When the young Junrei was all dressed and ready, he grabbed his slingshot, his pouches of kunai and explosive tags, and a canister of explosive powders and salts, lastly a pouch of premade paper bombs that he used for his jutsus (even some premade ones for the Striking Willow jutsu, for when he would be training in it again!) Now he was all ready and making his way to the training grounds again, meeting up with his pink haired sensei on the grounds. "Ready to train sensei!" {AJ} Kaiiaki:-Nakara stopped mid-pace as she saw that her student had finally arrived for the day. "Ah Ari..." She smiled, but it was a forced smile. The genin incident had her very worried, but she was not one to go and blab about what upset her to just anybody. So she would just pretend it wasn't even bothering her. Because she really needed to get this session done with him. Things were happening between the Leaf and the Rain. And none of it was good. It was Nakara's duty to have her genin prepared for the absolute worse scenario. Although she hoped such a thing would never happen. She would keep every single genin within the village if she had the choice. But at this point, she didn't know. Nakara cleared her throat, and settled her feet upon the snow covered ground. "Let's get this done shall we?" She made the handsigns:Ram → Snake → Tiger "Clone Jutsu!" At this point a clone identical to her appeared right beside her. Although it was one that would not be able to attack him. This was going to be his target once again. They would continue on this training until Ari could read his patterns effectively. No matter what nonsense pattern she came up with. "Every opponent has a pattern, Ari. You will need to be able to pick them right up. Find out their strategy and come up with the best way to hit them. By the time we leave here today, you will know your patterns, no matter how crazy they may be." She then nodded to her clone, sending it off into the open field that lay in front of them. As soon Ari's slingshot was loaded up, the clone would move towards Ari in the same pattern it moved in last time. The standard zig-zag pattern. One anyone should be able to detect right off the bat. The clone would be at a distance of 65 feet from Ari's initial position. Then would begin to move towards him in the zig-zag pattern. At lengths of 6 feet, and then stopping only for about 2.5 second intervals. It would continue this pattern until it had reached Ari.- Andikins:{AJ} Ari, ready as ever, prepared his slingshot and waited for the training to begin. He was ready this time, he had been mentally preparing himself since the first day that his training with this jutsu had begun. "Right! Patterns are key to pick up on, got it sensei!" Listening to his teacher, Ari took out one of the paper bombs folded up and prepared with materials for the Striking Willow and got the bomb in the sling. When the clone of his sensei started darting to and fro, Ari read her movements and where she stopped and moved to. When he finally picked up on the pattern like it was from last time, he pulled back on the sling and let go. The paper bomb was on course to hit the clone when it would stop in one of the spots where the pattern held it. Performing the handseals like last time, Ari called out, "Striking Willow!" The paper bomb burst into red and silver lights like a Weeping Willow branch to catch the clone as it was moving to stop in its next position. {AJ} Kaiiaki:-"Great job Ari!" Nakara called out from her real body's position about 10 feet behind him. She was impressed that he had done so well on only his second try. Watching as her clone fell down to the ground on her bum. Signifying that she had been hit by Ari's technique. Perhaps he had spent some time practicing on his own while Nakara had been on her training hiatus. But still, that one had been easy. And she was going to give him something a little harder since he had done that one so easily. This time, the clone would move in a pyramid pattern. Moving from right, to left, and then onward, then moving back to the right, left, and so on. It would make large stretches of distance, about 10 feet when it moved onward, the point of the triangle. Trying to gain on Ari at a moderate speed of 8 mph. That was about the highest jogging speed a normal person could go. But of course, with ninja they can always go up and beyond that of what a normal person can do. When it would move right to left, it would make a width distance of about 8 feet. Nakara watched silently from her position behind Ari, and wondered if he would be as good at this one as he was with the last one.- Andikins:{AJ} Ari was ready for the next one, or so he thought. This next pattern was pretty unpredictable, and a little confusing. It moved forward, then backwards and then side to side. It was a little confusing, but could be read easily from above. That was a luxury that Ari did not have at all. He tried to read it, but quickly tried to throw a kunai at the clone to judge where it would be, not wanting to waste any of his paper resources, but he missed with the kunai sure enough. "Crap crap crap!" The Junrei lad started pacing backwards, preparing a second kunai for the clone, throwing it and missing it by a hair. At least he was making progress in reading the pattern, but aiming and anticipating where they would be based ontheir speed was his next hurdle. {AJ} Kaiiaki:-Nakara watched as Ari threw kunai at the clone, trying to read the movements of it. He was struggling slightly with it. And it looked like he wouldn't be able to fire off his striking willow at the moving clone. Although Nakara thought this pattern wouldn't be too much harder than the one previous, she realized that Ari needed a lot of practice for this type of pattern reading training. So she stood up, and talked with him for a short bit, explaining that if he was having trouble finding a pattern, then he should keep his distance, and do exactly what he was doing with the kunai. Find the pattern without using any of your chakra, if it can be helped. She stayed there for hours, training Ari with the use of patterns with her clone. And at the end of their session, it seemed like Ari had gotten the hang of it finally. With a smile upon her face, she patted his head and sent him off to his home. Proud that she had successfully taught the young boy his first C rank jutsu. - Andikins: {AJ} After his failure, Ari was getting trained in pattern reading and the use of his jutsu with his sensei. Eventually, he had gotten the hang of both, he wasn't an expert at either, but he was far from being a greenhorn to either reading patterns or using the jutsu. When all of their training was done, Ari looked up at his sensei and curiously asked, "Do you think working with puzzles would help me read patterns easier sensei?" {AJ} Kaiiaki: -After turning around to hear Ari speak to her from across the field from where he was heading home, she answered simply, "Yes, I do think it would help a lot dear." She shone a bright smile over at him, glad that he had suggested such a thing. She had high hopes for the boy. And maybe he would turn out to be much stronger than any of them. Nakara walked on towards her Haruno estate, watching the falling snow continue to pour down. Almost as if it signified a heavy pour of rain upon the Leaf Village.- End Results As a result of this training, Ari Junrei may now use the jutsu "Striking Willow"